FAO Eds; Mother Anthony's Well

Mother Anthony’s Well 1

Image by tjj

tjj Nov 3, 2010 20:00:29

FAO Eds, not sure how to contact you to find out if a site is appropriate to add or not.

Reference:
Mother Anthony's well (ST999642)
Latitude: 51.37685N
Longitude: 2.002824W
Nearest town: Devizes
Nearest ancient monument: Oliver's Castle and tumuli

In the fields at the foot of Oliver's Castle, there is a small wild wood, with tangled undergrowth from which emerges a lively stream (carrying a surprising amount of water) at its western edge. This wood is marked on the OS map as Mother Anthony's Well. Access to the interior was difficult, but once inside the wood,there are springs in abundance.
We had given up on finding the well in the wood and were walking around its perimeter to retrace our steps back up to Oliver's Castle when we heard the clear sound of running water - and there it was, forming a small pool before falling into a fast flowing stream.

It is reputed to be the site of a Romano-British shrine, but archaeological finds there put its use back well into prehistoric times: flint tools from the Mesolithic and Neolithic; a Neolithic axehead and pottery fragments; Bronze age pottery and flint tools; and various objects from the Iron age, including a brooch, a ring and a whetstone.
ref: (Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre Sites and
Monuments Record)

A good description of how to find it, plus picture are at
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1338935

And a close up here - Mother Anthony's Well

Many thanks to Ravensroost for accompanying me; the map reading skills; and for providing additional background information.

Rhiannon Nov 4, 2010 09:20:25

Replying to tjj

Great minds think alike, June. I've been trying to find stuff out about this place too (but with no luck). I haven't even found out where the name comes from or is rumoured to come from. It looks great anyway. Did you see it when you went on your walk recently and saw the weird valley formations near the fort?

wideford Nov 4, 2010 10:52:03

Replying to tjj

click on browes sites and drill down to smallest relevant region and on RH side at add and on list click "add a site". You will then be asked to name the site, give co-ordinates, than add evidence in support of its inclusion. May take several weeks before you hear back though

goffik Nov 4, 2010 10:57:28

Replying to tjj

http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/submission_guidelines/

"Sites

* Firstly, find the most appropriate place to submit your site. If your site is part of a group or complex already listed here, locate that group and choose to 'Add a site' from there. If your site is in a region such as 'The Peak District', locate that region and 'Add a site' from there. Be sure to search around and make sure that the site hasn't already been submitted.
* Do not add sites unless you intend to add some information or images about them. It is important that you qualify your submissions as much as you can.
e.g. If you think you've found a site but can't be sure, flag this up in your posts
* The Modern Antiquarian relies on trust and that trust is easily broken if users start adding everything that they believe is a site without qualifying it any way whatsoever.
* Sites irrelevant to the subject matter will be removed."

G x

tjj Nov 5, 2010 23:45:51

Replying to tjj

Thanks to the Eds for adding this site.
One thing puzzled me though and would be grateful for clarification, or just thoughts from anyone on the subject . When looking for the correct category to add Mother Anthony's Well I could only find 'Sacred Well'. It seems there is evidence of bronze age occupation at the site in question but does this make it 'sacred'. How do we differentiate between what is sacred and what is just ancient - and how do we guage what neolithic/bronze age people held sacred?

Chris Collyer Nov 15, 2010 12:38:15

Replying to tjj

Hi June, I was looking at the tma google earth map and it seems that Mother Anthony's Well has drifted slightly... into the English Channel north of Calais!
I can't remember if we can edit the grid refs of a site ourselves or if it needs the Ed's to do it but it looks like the longitude should be 2 degrees west rather than east.

Cheers-
-Chris